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    Lived Experience Leading The Way: Peer Support in Mental Health

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    Carolyn Anderson
    This document summarizes a report on peer support in mental health. Peer support involves people with lived experience of mental health issues providing support to each other through shared understanding and insights. Receiving peer support can increase self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation. It also reduces reliance on treatment services and medication, leading to cost savings. The report advocates for greater collaboration between organizations to expand effective peer support models.

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    Lived Experience Leading The Way: Peer Support in Mental Health

    Uploaded by

    Carolyn Anderson
    139 views4 pages
    This document summarizes a report on peer support in mental health. Peer support involves people with lived experience of mental health issues providing support to each other through shared understanding and insights. Receiving peer support can increase self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation. It also reduces reliance on treatment services and medication, leading to cost savings. The report advocates for greater collaboration between organizations to expand effective peer support models.

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    Peer Support

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    This document summarizes a report on peer support in mental health. Peer support involves people with lived experience of mental health issues providing support to each other through shared understanding and insights. Receiving peer support can increase self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation. It also reduces reliance on treatment services and medication, leading to cost savings. The report advocates for greater collaboration between organizations to expand effective peer support models.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    139 views4 pages

    Lived Experience Leading The Way: Peer Support in Mental Health

    Uploaded by

    Carolyn Anderson
    This document summarizes a report on peer support in mental health. Peer support involves people with lived experience of mental health issues providing support to each other through shared understanding and insights. Receiving peer support can increase self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation. It also reduces reliance on treatment services and medication, leading to cost savings. The report advocates for greater collaboration between organizations to expand effective peer support models.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    The key takeaways are that peer support involves people with lived experience supporting each other through shared understanding and experiences. It is based on principles of mutuality, solidarity, trust and empowerment. Peer support can take place formally or informally and has benefits such as increased self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation.

    The principles of peer support outlined are mutuality, solidarity, synergy, sharing with safety and trust, companionship, hopefulness, focusing on strengths and potential, equality and empowerment, being yourself, independence, reduction of stigma, and respect and inclusiveness.

    Some of the benefits of receiving peer support mentioned are increased self-esteem, confidence, sense of belonging, and motivation. It can also help people overcome problems that traditional services have not helped with and gain independence.

    www.together-uk.

    org

    Lived Experience Leading The Way


    Peer Support in Mental Health

    ‘Peer Support sees the person first, understands


    their distress and can offer true solutions that
    the Supporting Peer has used themselves.’
    Peer Support Worker, Peer2Peer member
    Together is a national charity working alongside
    people with mental health issues so that they can lead
    fulfilling, independent lives. Together is trusted for its
    expertise in service user involvement, empowerment
    and leadership that promote wellbeing.
    We have joined forces with the University of Nottingham and National Survivor
    User Network (NSUN) to research into Peer Support, its many advantages and
    Return on Investment (ROI) potential. This leaflet summarises the full report
    Lived Experience Leading the Way - Peer Support in Mental Health.

    Support through shared experience


    We believe that one of the with user led organisations and other key Providing Peer Support leads to workers
    most powerful ways to help is stakeholders. Our Peer2Peer initiative becoming involved in meaningful work
    provides a forum for supporting and and acquiring a sense of purpose. They
    through Peer Support. It’s developing successful Peer Support can become accepted as people instead
    about people with lived models. of just a diagnosis.
    experience supporting each
    other in their wellbeing journey How Peer Support helps
    through similar experiences Receiving Peer Support leads to increased Principals of
    and insight. Such a system of self esteem and self confidence, a sense
    mutually giving and receiving of belonging, and motivation to learn new Peer Support:
    skills. For many, being part of a user group
    help is founded on respect and provides a safety net. Some have even • Mutuality
    shared responsibility. used peer support to overcome problems
    that traditional services have not helped • Solidarity
    Peer Support can be on a formal or with.
    voluntary basis, as an initiative or project,
    • Synergy
    and led by peers or professionals. It ‘Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with a • Sharing with safety
    develops and delivers meaningful, psychologist had previously failed even to and trust
    effective services for people in many get me to walk down my road alone.
    ways. For example, within an NHS Trust, However with the motivation and support • Companionship
    crisis centre, day centre or as a 24-hour from [my peers] other CAPITAL members,
    service. gradually my confidence grew so that I
    • Hopefulness
    could make increasingly complicated • Focus on strengths
    Together works directly with people who journeys alone. Within two or three years,
    support peers, run Peer Support travelling had ceased to be a problem for
    and potential
    programmes and works in partnership me.’ Ockwell (2010) • Equality and
    empowerment
    ‘Peer Support has a long and honourable history in • Being yourself
    mental health. Fellow patients and service users • Independence
    have always provided invaluable support to each • Reduction of stigma
    other, both informally and through self-help and • Respect and
    activist groups.’ Jackson (2010) inclusiveness
    Positive Looking to the future
    outcomes ‘Studies have shown that peer support can lead to
    The success of Peer Support has increased community integration for people with lived
    been proven by many organisations, experience as well as increased quality of life in relation to
    such as the AA (Alcoholics daily living activities, social relations and a significantly
    Anonymous). greater involvement in work or participation in education’.
    Nelson et al 2007, Forchuk et al 2005
    Mental health problems cost
    England over £77 billion p.a. Peer Support can play a crucial role in supporting mental wellbeing, fulfilling
    core policy objectives and developing quality and cost-efficient services that
    through care, economic losses and
    deliver positive outcomes and enable people to direct their own care.
    premature death. Improved
    wellbeing through Peer Support But for Peer Support to become more widespread, there are challenges to
    leads to a reduced use of treatment overcome. For people with lived experience and peer run groups, these
    services and medication - with include being seen as credible and having respected opinions, avoiding red
    considerable savings. A Peer Support tape and maintaining independence. For peer support workers working within
    mental health services, there’s the need to strengthen their position through
    service in Australia, providing
    increased awareness, better engagement and support by staff, improved
    hospital avoidance and early training, and increased supervision.
    discharge support, saved 300 bed
    days in the first three months alone. It‘s also important to explore the Return
    A USA outpatient programme On Investment (ROI) compared to
    reduced re-hospitalisations by 50% current services and promote the
    importance of service user
    compared with traditional care.
    knowledge/ expertise and service
    user-led organisations.
    An estimated £26.1 billion is lost
    in the UK as many people
    diagnosed with a mental health
    problem are unable to work. Peer
    Support can facilitate involvement in
    education and progression to
    employment.

    Peer Support services are also


    proven to be extremely cost-
    efficient. For example, the Leeds
    Survivor-Led Crisis Service
    successfully supports people at
    £180 per day per person while a
    stay at an acute hospital as an
    inpatient is £259 per day,
    providing a saving of £28,000
    each year.
    Together we’re better
    Peer Support works best when there’s a spirit of true
    collaboration and partnership. Through cooperation between
    service user groups, voluntary organisations, other statutory
    service providers and commissioners, we aim to turn a shared
    vision into concrete, effective practice.

    If you are interested in working with us, or would like more


    information about our Peer Support services, please visit
    www.together-uk.org. Or contact:
    Elina Stamou, Peer Support Development Manager
    Phone: 0207 780 7358
    Email: [email protected]

    The partnership behind the report


    This leaflet is a summary of key messages from the Peer Support – Lived
    Experience Leading the Way report, which you can read at www.together-uk.org.

    ‘Together have made an enormously valuable contribution in the mental health


    arena. This is an important document that should be essential reading both for
    those of us with mental health problems who are rebuilding our lives and all who
    aspire to be our allies and support us in our journey.’
    Rachel E. Perkins OBE, Mind Champion of the Year 2010

    Together supports people on their own The University of Nottingham, with user- NSUN is committed to promoting and
    journey towards mental wellbeing – led Making Waves, developed and runs an developing Peer Support across England
    helping them with aspects of life such as accredited training programme for peer at a local, regional and national level. It
    getting a place to live, finding work, support workers. In working with the local aims to facilitate links between user
    making friends, building self esteem and NHS Trust, they are part of a UK-wide groups and individuals, broker access to
    playing an active role in their community. network of NHS Trusts employing peer service users by policy-makers, and
    support workers in mental health services. provide training in leadership,
    organisational skills and campaigning.

    Together, 12 Old Street, London EC1V 9BE


    Tel: 020 7780 7300 Web: www.together-uk.org
    Registered Charity No. 211091. Registered Company No. 463505

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